James E. Porter: "Recovering Delivery for Digital Rhetoric"
Table of Contents: Abstract Key Concepts Examples Keywords Citations Abstract: 'This article focuses on the rhetorical aspect of delivery and particularly how it has changed since the involvement of technology in rhetoric, specifically recreating a rhetorical theory to maximize the full rhetorical affordances in the digital realm. The second part of this article primarily delves into creating "digital delivery" into five main topics, including "Body, Distribution, Accesibility, Interaction, and Economics". The point of this article is to detail the traditional topic of delivery in rhetoric and re-apply it and redefine it according to the affordances of the digital, particularly including aural and verbal digitization. '''Key Concepts: ' Digital Rhetoric: The author attempts to show that the delivery within rhetoric is still as important in the digital age and the original rhetoric theory must change in order to adapt to the digital world. For example, he claims: The real value in developing a robust rhetorical theory for digital delivery lies in production: How can this theory aid productive action? How can it prompt the critical thinking of writers/designers and help them produce better (more valuable, usable, and useful) online communications and thereby help people with their lives?" (Porter) The whole point is that we can use this technological growth to create better standards of rhetoric that clearly get the point across for multiple audiences through multiple, digital mediums. Delivery in Rhetoric: How we talk about rhetoric in how we are able to demonstrate our point and which medium we choose drastically can change the meaning of our rhetoric. For example, the author talks about the switch of delivery canons once the printing press became popular. And while these delivery modes change, it is important that original rhetoric is recognized, as Porter claims, "They have an enduring power and influence over our categories of thought, our systemic classifications, our vocabularies, our ways of thinking about writing, technology, and production," (Porter) Switching these forms of delivery drastically changes how we perceive who is addressing us. By looking at our delivery methods critically and thus applying them to the digital world, our rhetorical devices can work to reach multiple types of audiences through many different mediums. '''Examples: # The whole purpose of this class, Writing Across Media, discusses how rhetoric can be used across many different mediums in order to achieve a significant movement or meaning to reach many different audiences. For example, our final project: while we are all supposed to have a final desired consequence within our groups, we are all using different media methods in order to portray our meaning and create a rhetorical project that involves changing the conversation we have about rape culture on our campus. # The ability to visualize a human body through the digital world - not an actual human standing in front of you - is another example of how rhetoric has changed over time. For example, Victoria Secret: before the internet or television, the only way that you would be able to see the models advertised was through print, probably in a magazine. Now that the internet and television can allow you to see these models everywhere, the philosophy "sex sells" has become increasingly popular as a rhetoric style for these digital means. The delivery now has more ways than ever to reach various audiences. For example, this was the Victoria Secret advertisement for the Super Bowl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RumQykvJd0 Keywords: Rhetoric, Delivery, Digital Delivery 'Citations: ' Porter, James E. "Recovering Delivery for Digital Rhetoric." Journal of the American Dietetic Association 111.4 (2011): n. pag. Web. "Super Bowl 2015 - Victoria Secret Ad" Wall Street Journal, 2015. Web. .